The Mews at Grand Army Plaza (295 St Johns Place)

The building is 150 feet across St Johns Place and 118 feet deep, on a lot that runs back to about 159 feet. The rear portion of the lot holds the courtyard. ACRIS apartment designations run from A through J on the floors, which fits a wide courtyard plan with several lines per floor. Listing records describe one- and two-bedroom apartments, with larger layouts in some lines.

The building averages about 1,590 gross square feet per apartment, a figure that includes corridors, lobby and service space. It is not a measurement of interior apartment area and does not establish that homes are larger than nearby apartments. Compare actual floor plans and consistently measured areas, along with room count, line and condition.

Apartment renovation shows up regularly in DOB filings, mostly kitchens and baths, including a 2025 kitchen renovation that removed partitions between the foyer and a corridor. Interior-wall changes need board approval and, where structure or plumbing is involved, DOB filings.

Heating plant. In 2020 the corporation replaced its boilers with gas-fired units, replaced the water heater and installed a chimney liner. In 2021 it removed an abandoned oil tank. That conversion from oil to gas is complete. Ask about any planned electrification.

Façade and roof. Local Law 11, the city's Façade Inspection Safety Program, requires periodic façade inspections of taller buildings, and DOB carries inspection filings for this one. Reports use three ratings: safe, "safe with a repair and maintenance program" (SWARMP, meaning conditions to fix within the cycle), and unsafe. This building's DOB façade-inspection filings show SWARMP in Cycles 6, 8 and 9 and safe in Cycle 7. The Cycle 9 report was updated in December 2025. DOB NOW shows sidewalk sheds filed in late 2025, a suspended scaffold in March 2026, a façade and roof repair permit in April 2026, and a pipe scaffold in June 2026. Exterior work is active in 2026. Ask the managing agent for the scope, the contract amount, how it is funded and whether an assessment is attached.

Underlying mortgage. The corporation financed through The Community Preservation Corporation in 1986 and again in 1999. It recorded a credit facility of about $1.1 million with a savings bank in 2015 and a $3.0 million mortgage with a savings bank in February 2020. Request the current balance, rate and maturity. Co-op mortgages are often written for ten years, so confirm when this one matures.

J-51 history. J-51 combines a tax exemption on added assessed value with an abatement, a credit of part of the certified cost against taxes. DOF records three grants on this lot, none active:

• 1972: A 12-year, 75 percent grant on a very small certified cost. Expired by 1981.
• 1987 (the conversion rehabilitation): A 90 percent abatement on about $761,900 of certified cost, with an exemption that phased out by the 2001 tax year. Abatement credits ended in the 2004 tax year.
• 2006: A 90 percent abatement on $21,800 of certified cost, credited at about $1,800 a year. Exhausted in the 2017 tax year.

• Pets: Permitted, per listing records.
• Subletting: After two years of ownership, with board approval, per listing records.
• Pied-à-terre: Permitted with board approval, per listing records.
• Flip tax: None, per listing records.
• Financing: 20 percent minimum down, per listing records.
• Guarantors, parents purchasing for children, gifted funds: All listed as allowed, per listing records dated October 2022.
• Trust/LLC purchases: Not documented. Confirm with the managing agent.
• Landmarks: None applies to this lot. Exterior alterations go through DOB, not LPC.

Recent sales

Recent transfers at this building, from The Roebling Research Library. Prices are the transfer amounts recorded with the NYC Department of Finance; apartment-level detail is checked against the building’s own file in The Roebling Research Library before publishing.

Market read. $/sf is measured on the latest sales with reliable square footage (2024): a median $1,237/sf (floor-adjusted) across 2 sales. The building has traded as recently as 2025. Median listing discount -3.2% over ask.

Sales sourced from NYC Department of Finance recorded transfers (BBL 3-01171-0007). Apartment-level facts (line, condition, asking-price context) curated and cross-verified in The Roebling Research Library. Not all transactions cross-verify with ACRIS records — sponsor and LLC purchases sometimes record at stipulated values rather than market price; square footage on co-ops is not officially recorded, figures shown are approximate.

Price the 2026 exterior work first. The building has façade and roof work permitted this year. Find out the contract amount, how it will be paid for, and whether an assessment has been announced or is expected. That is the most important open item here.

Get the 2020 mortgage terms. Balance, rate, maturity and whether the loan can be prepaid. Request three years of financials and the reserve balance too.

The policies work in a buyer's favor. Confirm them. Pets, pied-à-terre with approval, sublets after two years, guarantors, gifted funds and no flip tax make this one of the more flexible co-ops near the plaza. These terms come from listing records, not a plan or house rules on file, so confirm each in the purchase application.

The landmark boundary runs through this block. The Underhill Avenue row on this block is inside the historic district, and this lot is not. That affects the cost and timing of window and façade work, which is in this building's favor.

Expect a standard board package and interview. Financing is capped at 80 percent (20 percent minimum down), and a full financial package is required.

Lead with the courtyard and the plaza. Photograph the courtyard and the Art Deco lobby. The plaza, the park, the Central Library and the Brooklyn Museum are all within a short walk.

Put the capital answers in the listing package. Buyers' attorneys will ask about the 2026 façade and roof work and the 2020 mortgage. Providing the current documents early helps buyers assess those issues; it does not guarantee the contract timetable.

Market the flexible policies. No flip tax, pied-à-terre with approval, sublets after two years and guarantors are real advantages for a seller in this market. Confirm them with the managing agent and state them.

If you're considering The Mews at Grand Army Plaza, also evaluate:

• 44 Butler Place (Butler Plaza): a 1925 building on the same tax block, gut-renovated as condominiums in 1986–87. The same era under condo ownership
• 50 Plaza Street East: a 1925 prewar co-op on the plaza arc, a short walk west
• 20 Plaza Street East: a 1940 Art Deco co-op on the arc with a larger unit count
• 34 Plaza Street East: a mid-century co-op on the arc. The large-building alternative
• 1 Plaza Street West: Sugarman & Berger's 1927 tower across the plaza in Park Slope
• 230 Park Place: an Art Deco elevator co-op inside the historic district. The landmarked comparison
• 418 St Johns Place: a 1924 six-story courtyard co-op on the next St Johns Place block east, between Underhill and Washington
• 125 Eastern Parkway (The Theodore Roosevelt): a 1923 six-story co-op on the parkway, converted in 1985–86